Fundraising event turns ugly

An attorney for a resident of Madrigal Lofts, a condominium building in downtown Washington, D.C., is asking the Senate campaign of Democrat Alexi Giannoulias to investigate an alleged incident of “harassment, intimidation, and assault” that occurred after a recent rooftop fundraising event. While the facts remain somewhat unclear, this much is certain—a video tracker employed by the National Republican Senatorial Committee showed up at the June 16 fundraiser and caused a ruckus. Several of Giannoulias’ guests, including Michael Kosmas, a condo resident who sponsored the event, forcefully asked the tracker to leave the rooftop and the altercation was posted online—a video that has been viewed more than 43,000 times.

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The episode, however, did not end there. The tracker contended that he had been invited to the rooftop by a different resident of the condominium building. And that resident accused Kosmas and several other individuals of showing up at her door later that evening, around 11:00 pm, and confronting her “using inappropriate and threatening terms.”

The accusing resident did not open the door at the time but was later escorted by a building security guard to Kosmas’ condominium to complain, according to accounts by both parties.

According to a letter sent to the Giannoulias campaign by the woman’s attorney, Bobby Burchfield, Kosmas “would not commit to refrain from repeating the situation” and the woman was “knocked on her shoulder” as she walked past him.

“One of Mr. Kosmas’ guests answered the door…and commented aloud that ‘it’s the bitch from the roof,’” Burchfield wrote of the woman, who he declined to name citing safety concerns. “[She] recognized the man, as well as Mr. Kosmas, as two of the individuals who had knocked on the door earlier in the evening.”

Kosmas recalled the conversation differently and disputed the accuracy of his neighbor’s accusation.

According to a written statement provided to POLITICO by Kosmas, he said he “went and complained at the unit whose occupant allowed the videographer upon the roof.”

“The security guard told her in no uncertain terms that if her guests violate building rules, I have an absolute right to go to her unit and complain,” he wrote in his statement. “Unsatisfied with the guard’s explanation, she then summoned a District of Columbia police officer, who gave her the exact same answer.”